May Favorites

Before I start today's post, I wanted to express the distress and sorrow that I feel for the world (and especially my beloved America) right now. As a white person, it's difficult to know how best to act and react during heartbreaking times like this knowing that you'll never experience it in the same way that people of color are experiencing it. "I know that I will never understand, but still I stand." It's overwhelming to feel like we can't fix everything with a snap of our fingers, when the social issues we're facing should've NEVER happened in the first place, and the division we continue to face should've been solved long ago. However you're coping with the recent events, know that we're in this together, and the support is ten times stronger than the silence.

It's a new week, but most importantly, it's June! The month that summer (AKA the best season) *officially* begins! I'm rounding up all my favorites from the month of May, including lots of summertime goodies.

Not included in the collage but majorly worth mentioning is this tofu breakfast sandwich recipe! It caught my eye on Pinterest and I had to give it a try. And OMG Y'=09LL, it is so good. If you're vegetarian or vegan, or just looking for a good meatless recipe to try, you've gotta try this one. I served the tofu on wheat toast with vegan cheese, avocado, tomato, sriracha, dijon mustard, and a little mayo on Kenny's. Kenny loved it too and I can't wait to make them again!

  1. Liquid IV Hydration Multiplier: This has been a favorite of mine for a couple of years now, but I've been drinking it a lot lately. It's a great hangover remedy (oop) and a good alternative to sports drinks when you feel like you need some extra electrolytes. I always drink one when I get a headache and it usually leaves me feeling SO much better. Of all of the flavors, lemon lime is my favorite, and I also like passionfruit. I don't prefer  the acai berry flavor.
  2. Bronze Goddess Azur: If you're looking for the PERFECT summer perfume, this is it! I ordered it completely blind on the recommendation of my friend Beauty by Eva and I'm so glad I did. The top notes are Sicilian lemon, Italian bergamot, and Calabrian mandarin; the heart notes are Moroccan orange flower absolute, neroli bigarade petals, and fig nectar; and the dry down notes are coconut milk, musk, cedarwood, and ambrox. WHEW, that's a lot of notes. I can say that upon first spray, I wasn't sure if I was going to like this fragrance or not. It's strong with neroli and citrus, but once it dries down, the notes balance out to feature more of the coconut milk and warmer notes. While I love this perfume, it definitely doesn't fit in with my tried and true favorites (fresh florals). If you love citrus, warmer fragrances and/or very distinctly "summer" fragrances, you'll definitely love this one. 
  3. Hibiscus Waterfalls candle: This has become a new favorite candle of mine! The notes are tropical hibiscus, sweet peach nectar, and waterfall mist, however, I don't think the notes match the scent much at all. It's a *slightly* powdery, cozy yet fresh floral, not that sweet at all. It'd be great to burn any time of year. 
  4. Hard as Hoof: PEOPLE this stuff is a game changer. I have had consistently brittle, weak, peeling nails for as long as I can remember, which have only been worsened by my addiction to getting gel manicures. I've used different (expensive) nail oils and treatments that claim to heal and strengthen your nails that haven't really worked well at all. Until now! I've been using this as directed (three times a day) for the past month and started seeing a difference after the first few days. My nails have been longer, stronger, and much less peely. It's such a great solution, and only $8 on Amazon Prime! While the directions state that it can be used on top of nail polish, I've been using it on bare nails (my salon is still closed or I'd have a manicure by now), and I think that's what's really allowed this product to work its magic, I don't know how well it'd work over nail polish, but I'll certainly continue to test it once my nails are painted and report back. 
  5. Verity: I'll admit, it takes me quite a while to finish a book these days. I always get distracted, even with the most enthralling novels! And THIS book is nothing short of enthralling. I've only barely dipped my toe into the world of fictional thrillers (I'm more of a romance novel type of gal) but this book has me wanting more and more! The story is SO INSANE. Just when you think you know where the story is going, it NAILS you with a twist that gets you looking at the entire plot differently. (And as a bonus, there's still a good dose of romance in the story as well.)
  6. Lavender Moon body wash: I think I came across this in an ad, and I had to have it! If you like lavender then you'll love this body wash. The scent is stated as lavender, rose, and chamomile, but I find it to smell predominantly like lavender with a hint of chamomile. It's quite a relaxing scent, I use it in the morning and at night. What's more is all of Pacifica's products are clean, phalate and sulfate free, cruelty free, and vegan, and the bottles are made from 100% recycled plastic, so you can feel good about using them. They also have a pillow mist, bath tea, body scrub, body lotion, and shower oil in the same scent if any of those products are more your fancy. 
  7. Truly lemonade & seltzer: Don't come for me, but I think hard seltzers are gross (they taste like vinegar to me!). HOWEVER for some reason, I felt the need to pick up a pack of the Truly lemonade & seltzer and surprisingly really liked it! It'd be a great beach/pool/river/lake drink. I don't like the traditional lemonade flavor much (it tastes too much like traditional hard seltzer), but the other flavors are delish! 
  8. Sweet & creamy almond creamer: I'm always on the hunt for the best non-dairy coffee creamer, and I always come back to this one. It's no-nonsense, has great flavor, and you don't need a ton of it to get a perfectly sweet coffee. 
  9. Chrome eye mousse: I love a shimmery eyelid to top off a makeup look, and had to try this product after seeing a couple of recommendations for it. It creates SUCH a stunning gilded metallic effect, and for the price (often on sale!) you've just gotta try it. it comes in 13 shades! It can be a bit tricky to apply at first, I recommend stamping it onto your lid with your fingertip. 
  10. Shower steamers: I bought some of these when Kenny and I were on our Savannah trip in February and stashed them in my linen closet for a rainy day. I was in need of a little extra self care recently and finally broke some out, and it's safe to say I wish that I had bought more! I'm not a fan of baths so bath bombs are a no for me, but these are like the shower version of a bath bomb! The smell is intoxicating and relaxing all at the same time (lavender peppermint is my favorite), and it creates such a beautiful, spa-like experience out of a regular shower. Plus the manufacturer is a great small business to support! 
I hope you've had a good start to the week. The weather today has been fantastic, and I'm hoping for more of that for the rest of the week. Summer weather makes me SO happy, and I'm so excited that it's finally here!

Extra xoxx's, Laura

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